1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of training baseball bats, and more particularly to such a training bat which utilizes a cast-in-place lead within a cavity which spans the sweet spot of the bat and which is permanently held in place by multiple retaining means to insure that the lead does not become dislodged or loose within the bat.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of training bats which are weighted to enhance the muscle, speed and coordination skills of the batter are well known. One such well-known technique is the temporary addition of a weighted ring or donut slid over the handle of the bat and which is sized to be retained from slipping off the barrel of the bat while the batter takes practice swings before coming to the plate for either batting practice or during a game.
Other prior art devices which have been patented are also well known. U.S. Pat. No. 514,420 to Jacobus discloses a bat with an axial perforation longitudinally formed in the body wherein one or more heavy weights are inserted, the outer end of the cylindrical perforation is securely closed with a threaded cylindrical plug. A similar metal bat is disclosed by Shroyer, Jr. in U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,128.
Owen, et al. teaches a weighted baseball bat in U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,926 and a warm-up bat with an integrally molded weight is taught by Hundley in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,899. Another weighted practice bat is taught by Rewolinski in U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,421 and a weighting system for sports balls and hitting implements is taught by Becker in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,502.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,353 to Brundage teaches a training bat with weights formed in a hollow cavity in the barrel portion and an interesting training ball bat is taught by Mabry in U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,930. Chang discloses a wood baseball bat with movable weights along an axial direction of the core in U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,299.
A baseball-training bat with interchangeable threaded weight plugs is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,843 to Franssen. A newly published pending patent application for a training bat and method is disclosed in U.S. Pub. US2005/0096161 in Gallagher.
The present invention provides a weighted training bat which adds a cast-in-place lead weight into a cylindrical hole bored into a conventional wooden bat and which is secured in place by multiple retaining means including an elongated threaded wooden screw permanently glued in place to insure that the lead does not become dislodged or loose within the bat during batting practice.